Ashes 2025: Australia’s next big mission is winning in England

Australia didn’t just retain the Ashes – they bossed a hyped-up England side 4-1 by going back to old-school, no-nonsense Test cricket.

They hit their lengths, trusted their disciplines and simply outlasted Bazball’s swagger over five hard-fought Tests.

Starc leads a ruthless, no-frills attack

Going into the series, everyone was talking about an all-time combo: Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. In reality, injuries meant England saw that quartet only on paper, with Starc the lone constant from that feared group.

Instead of panicking, Australia dipped into their fast-bowling reserves – and that’s where this Ashes was quietly won. Mitchell Starc took on the workload like a man possessed, finishing as the leading wicket-taker with 31 wickets, constantly striking in those game-breaking spells that suck the life out of a batting unit.

He found strong support from Scott Boland and Michael Neser, who embodied classic Australian seam bowling: top of off, heavy length, relentless accuracy. Over by over, session by session, they built pressure the traditional way, forcing errors rather than chasing magic balls.

This was the key contrast. While England backed aggression and tempo, Australia trusted that in Test cricket, the basics still win you trophies. Tight lines, patient fields, and bowlers hammering the same channel until the batsmen blink.

For fans in India, used to seeing Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami dismantle teams with similar discipline, this Aussie template felt very familiar – ruthless in its simplicity and brutally effective over five days.

The 4-1 scoreline underlines how comprehensively Australia cracked England’s approach at home. The next frontier is even bigger: taking this same solid, methodical blueprint and finally dominating in English conditions, where Duke balls, cloudy skies and buzzing crowds will test their depth and discipline all over again.